Commissioner race gets spendy

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Oct 7, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

So far, the two candidates for East Multnomah County’s seat on the board of commissioners have spent more than a quarter of a million dollars on their campaigns.

As of Oct. 6, Diane McKeel, executive director of the West Columbia River Gorge Chamber of Commerce, had spent just under $169,000, with Gresham Police Chief Carla Piluso’s expenses totaling nearly $98,500, for a total of $267,500.

But they’ve both raised even more than that, according to documents filed with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Total contributions for the McKeel campaign come in at just above $227,500 — 79 percent of which is self-funded. Diane and her husband Mike, a local dentist and developer, have loaned the campaign $133,000 and spent another $46,785.65 on out-of-pocket expenses.

Cash contributions total nearly $31,000, with another $16,500 in in-kind donations. All told, the campaign’s ending cash balance is $8,985.38.

Piluso has raised about $108,000 in cash donations and nearly $24,000 in-kind contributions, of which she’s spent nearly $98,500, leaving her more than $29,000 in the black.

She’s contributed only $800 in cash to her campaign — $600 for voter’s pamphlet statements and $200 to start the campaign’s bank account — plus $2,890 worth of art she donated to a silent auction fundraiser.

The high dollars involved in this campaign dwarf that of previous bids for the East County seat, now held by Lonnie Roberts, who can’t run for re-election because he’s already served two four-year terms.

His 2004 re-election bid cost just $18,321.26, of which $8,129.09 consisted of contributions, according to Multnomah County elections records.

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